Inclusive Design means designing products to be usable for as many people as possible
Inclusive design means making design choices that take into account things like ability, race, economic status, language, age and gender. This includes researchers and designers from traditionally excluded backgrounds in the process, so they can provide their unique perspectives. “solve for one, extend to many”. No one should be excluded from using a product we build because we didn’t consider their needs when building it. There is no “average person”.
Designing products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities is called accessibility (=a11y), and is one facet of inclusive design. This approach still leaves out some people though.
Further reading
- Describing ways to design products inclusively: Inclusive Design: 12 Ways to Design for Everyone from Shopify
- Google’s accessible approach to inclusive design: An Accessible Process for inclusive Design from Google I/O
- Breaking down important inclusive design principles: 6 Principles for Inclusive Design from UX Planet
- cards for humanity - We’ll deal you two random cards, a person and a trait. Your challenge: work out how you can meet their needs.
- read the book Inclusive Design Patterns by Heydon Pickering